Astra (missile)

For the naval surface-to-air variant of the missile, see VL-SRSAM.

Astra
Astra Mk-1
TypeBeyond-visual-range air-to-air missile
Place of originIndia
Service history
In service2019 (2019)–present
Used by
Production history
DesignerDefence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDO)
ManufacturerBharat Dynamics Limited
Unit cost₹7−8 crore (US$−960,000)
Produced2017 — Present
Variants
  • Astra Mk-1 (Operational)
  • Astra Mk-2 (Trial-phase)
  • Astra Mk-3 (Trial-phase)
  • Astra-IR (Designing-phase)
  • VL-SRSAM (Trial-phase)
Specifications
Mass154 kg (340 lb)
Length3.84 m (12.6 ft)
Diameter178 mm (7.0 in)
WarheadHigh-explosive pre-fragmented HMX/PU[1]
Warhead weight15 kg (33 lb)
Detonation
mechanism
Engine
PropellantSolid fuel
Operational
range
  • Astra IR: 80 km (50 mi)[2]
  • Astra Mk-1: 110 km (68 mi)[3]
  • Astra Mk-2: 160 km (99 mi)[3]
  • Astra Mk-3: 350 km (220 mi)[4][5]
Flight ceiling20 km (66,000 ft)
Maximum speed Mach 4.5 (Astra Mk 1) [6]
Guidance
system
Mid-course: Fibre-optic gyro based inertial navigation system with mid-course update via datalink.
Terminal: Active radar homing
Launch
platform
References[9][10][11][12][13][14]

Astra (Sanskrit: "Weapon") is an Indian family of all weather beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation. Different missiles of this family are capable of engaging targets at varying distances of 500 m (0.31 mi) up to 340 km (210 mi).[15] Astra Mk-1 has been integrated with Indian Air Force's Sukhoi Su-30MKI and will be integrated with Dassault Mirage 2000, HAL Tejas and Mikoyan MiG-29 in the future. Limited series production of Astra Mk-1 missiles began in 2017.[9][16][17]

  1. ^ Aroor, Shiv (24 March 2018). "How India's ASTRA Air-To-Air Missile Is Quietly Killing It". Livefist Defence. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  2. ^ "What is Aatra Missile". Business Standard India.
  3. ^ a b "Deal For Desi Astra Mk-1 Sealed, India Set To Test Next-gen Air-to-Air Missile 'This Month'". ThePrint. June 2022.
  4. ^ "From missiles to glide bombs, India set to test several advanced weapon systems". The Times of India. 7 May 2022. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  5. ^ "With The 'Devil' Behind, India's Fastest Missile 'Astra' Can Down Enemy Jets At Almost Hypersonic Speeds". Eurasian Times. 5 June 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  6. ^ Bhardwaj, Tarun (17 September 2019). "Deadly weapon! IAF successfully test-fires air-to-air missile Astra from Sukhoi-30 combat aircrafts [sic]". Financial Express. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  7. ^ "India orders Astra weapon in move to break dependence on foreign missiles". Defense News. 2 June 2022.
  8. ^ "India to integrate indigenous weapons on Rafale fighter jets". India Today. 23 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  9. ^ a b Bedi, Rahul (6 September 2017). "BDL begins initial build of Astra Mk1 BVRAAM". IHS Jane's Missiles & Rockets. Jane's Information Group. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017.
  10. ^ M. Somasekhar (27 August 2017). "Jaitley hands over long-range surface-to-air missile to Navy". The Hindu Business Line. The Hindu Group.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference vayu-sep15 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Y. Mallikarjun (22 May 2015). "Astra missile successfully tested again". The Hindu. The Hindu Group. ISSN 0971-751X.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ "DAC approves capital acquisition of various platforms & equipment worth Rs 38,900 crore". PIB India. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  15. ^ "What is Astra Missile ?". Business Standard India. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  16. ^ Rout, Hemant Kumar (31 August 2017). "Indian Air Force likely to start trials of Astra missile from today". The New Indian Express. Express Publications (Madurai).
  17. ^ "Astra Missile Test successful: More power to the IAF's fighter planes". The Financial Express. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2019.